The Masked prince
Chapter 155: Lies Mixed With Truth

Chapter 155: Lies Mixed With Truth

The Royal Court was already filled with ministers. The King was yet to arrive. However, surprisingly it was not King Derrick who was the target of attention today.

Instead, it was the princes in the front who gained everyone’s attention.

After all, it was very rare for all four princes to be present in Royal Court. The noble ministers saw the second Prince, Prince Richard greeting his brothers, Rex and Regan and the two princes also replied to his greeting very politely.

However, it was the third Prince, Prince Raphael who stayed silent all this while. He never said a single word. He didn’t even look toward the first and fourth princes.

It was as if he was trying to pretend as if Rex and Regan were never there.

But it was also reasonable.

There was no one in this court who had not heard how Prince Regan beat Prince Raphael when the latter locked his slave in the dungeons.

Derrick had tried to hide this but things didn’t go in his favor.

And the reason behind this was the same Raphael.

However, Rex and Regan’s attention was not on Raphael today. Their attention was on the man who was seated below...among the nobles. It was none other than Arthur.

They didn’t know if they should call their father foolish for giving such respect to the man who was from the enemy state.

Just because he said that he could provide some important information against their enemy, could the mere words be trusted?

Arthur looked towards Regan but only once. Other times, he was talking to the ministers seated by his side.

Just when the ministers were silently noticing the interaction between the four princes, the Royal Guard announced the arrival of the King and everyone stood up from their seats including the four princes.

Bowing their heads they greeted Derrick who walked towards the throne. His eyes were as usual very cold but when they fell on Regan, they did soften for a moment.

It was the first time he was seeing his son in Royal Court. Derrick felt slightly emotional as he wondered how his son would look on the throne which belonged to him in present.

But this was Royal Court so Derrick was fast enough to hide all his emotions. He walked to the throne and sat there majestically.

"The subjects can sit."

Derrick said in an authoritative tone.

It was the four princes who first sat down and then the ministers.

After this, there was a discussion on some other matters for some time. A minister stepped forward and showed Derrick the new design of the stamp.

Since the previous stamp designs’ had been stolen and they have been unable to find out who the thief was, they could only make a new stamp and declare it valid while the previous one invalid throughout the whole territory. The latter was done already but the former still needed to be done.

A Royal Guard took the design from the minister’s hand and presented it to Derrick so that the latter could look at it more closely.

Derrick looked at the design for a few moments and slowly nodded his head.

When he raised his head to look at the minister again, he said coldly.

"After the stamp is made, burn all the designs. No such incidents should be repeated again."

"As Your Majesty commands."

The minister bowed his head and said respectfully.

It was after him that another Minister stood up and walked to the center of the huge Royal Court.

It was none other than Minister Travis who had accompanied Arthur to Mazic. Standing in front of the King, he first bowed his head and said

"If Your Majesty grants permission then I would call Sir Arthur so that he can present his problem."

Derrick was unwilling because he had already heard Regan’s stand on this matter. He wanted this matter to be solved peacefully but now he didn’t think that it would happen.

He couldn’t decline to grant permission so he raised his hand and indicated Minister Travis to continue.

Hence, Minister Travis looked towards Arthur who stood up from his seat and walked to stand beside him.

He also bowed his head respectfully in front of Derrick and said

"Greetings to Your Majesty from Arthur."

Derrick nodded his head in acknowledgment and Arthur continued

"Your Majesty, When I was sixteen my elder brother died due to some unmentionable circumstances. However, before dying he had married an eight-year-old girl Evelyn only a few weeks ago. Your Majesty, before dying my brother’s last wish was that I would take care of his widow wife after his death."

What Arthur said was actually right.

Evelyn had not been there when Oliver closed his eyes and breathed his last but Arthur was there.

Oliver knew why Arthur killed him. He wanted Evelyn.

His heart was filled with dread for Evelyn but he still said his last words to Arthur.

"Now that you have her, take care of her. Keep her happy and in return, I would never blame you for anything."

Although these sentences were broken, Arthur understood what Oliver had wanted to say.

He didn’t have any problem because that was what he wanted. Unfortunately, Evelyn was taken away from him before he could complete his as well as Oliver’ last wish.

Raising his head, Arthur looked at the King. His eyes were filled with respect as he continued

"Your Majesty, in my village, there was a tradition where a brother could marry his brother’s widow before his funeral. Hence, According to my brother’s wish, I married Evelyn before my brother’s funeral. However, that was unacceptable to my parents. The same day, My mother sold Evelyn to a slave trader without letting me know anything. Since then, I have been searching for my wife. A few days ago, I found her in Mazic and came to know that she is now Prince Regan’s slave. Your Majesty, I am willing to pay twice the amount Prince Regan had bought her for or as much as he wishes. But I want my wife in return."